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Ball juggling
Balls are roughly spherical objects, usually small enough that several can be held in one hand at a time. They are the most common prop used for toss juggling and bounce juggling, and they are the prop that most people learn to juggle first. Most jugglers consider balls to be easier to juggle than rings or clubs. Beanbags are the most common type of juggling ball, and are preferred by many jugglers, especially numbers jugglers. The earliest known record of ball juggling is Egyptian - a depiction of female dancers and acrobats juggling balls in the 15th Beni Hassan tomb of an unknown prince, dating from the middle kingdom period of about 1994-1781 B.C. The highest number of balls that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 11 for toss juggling (by Alex Barron) and 10 for bounce juggling, and the highest number of balls that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) is 13 for toss juggling (by Alex Barron) and 12 for bounce juggling (by Alan Sulc). 3 balls ]]The 3 ball cascade is usually the first juggling pattern a beginning juggler learns. Some tricks (such as the upside-down box) are only done with 3 balls because the speed or accuracy required makes them practically impossible to do with 4 or more. Other tricks (such as a shower under a shower under a shower under a shower) can only be done with more than 3 objects. The IJA has had a 3 ball performance competition as part of the individual prop competitions since 2004 (first winner: Ivan Pecel), and the WJF had its first 3 ball freestyle competition in 2011 (winner: Michael Falcov). 3 is the minimum number of balls allowed in the Beginner, Junior, and Intermediate WJF competitions. The world record for 3 ball endurance is 12 hours and 5 minutes by David Slick (record from Guinness World Records). 4 balls thumb|left|400px|4 ball tricks by [[Tsubasa Murakami]] 4 balls are most commonly juggled in a fountain pattern (2 balls in each hand). The wimpy pattern may be more difficult for beginning 4 ball jugglers because the ball collide easily, but since crossing throws are generally easier than non-crossing throws, the wimpy pattern is easier than the fountain for higher numbers. The WJF intermediate ball competition allowed a minimum of 4 balls until 2010, when the format for that competition was changed to allow only 5 ball juggling. (The current Intermediate competition format includes moves with 3, 4, and 5 balls.) The WJF had its first 4 ball freestyle competition in 2011 (winner: Jack Denger). The 4 ball endurance world record is 2 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds by Zdeněk Bradáč (record from Guinness World Records). 5 balls thumb|left|400px|5 ball competition routines at [[WJF 6]] The basic pattern for 5 ball juggling is a higher (and/or faster) version of the 3 ball cascade. 5 is the minimum number of balls used in the competitions in the WJF overall championship. 5 balls was originally the minimum for the advanced ball short program; since 2010 that competition is for 5 balls only. The other 5 ball competitions in the overall championship are freestyle (best trick competition; held since 2006) and 360s (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute). The WJF also had an intermediate level 5 ball short program in 2010 and 2011. The unofficial world record for 5 balls (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 3 hours and 47 minutes by Thomas Dietz (record from IJDb). 6 balls thumb|left|400px|6 ball sequence by [[Thomas Dietz]] The WJF overall championship has included a 6 ball freestyle competition since 2006. Thomas Dietz won this competition every year until he retired from competition in 2008; after that Doug Sayers has won it each year. The unofficial 6 ball world record (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 24 minutes by Thomas Dietz (record from IJDb). 7 balls thumb|left|400px|7 ball tricks by [[David Ferman]] Until 1984, there were only two divisions in the IJA Numbers Championships - one for 7 objects (competitors could use either 7 balls or 7 rings in the same division) and one for 5 clubs. Since 1984 the IJA has had competitions with a separate division for each prop, where competitors are scored higher for juggling higher numbers. The WJF overall championship has two competitions for 7 balls: freestyle (held since 2004), and isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2005, part of the overall championship since 2007). The world record for 7 ball juggling is 11 minutes and 37 seconds by Anthony Gatto (record from Wikipedia, video). 8 balls thumb|left|400px|8 ball 8 up [[Spins|360 by David Ferman]] The first person to juggle 8 balls in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Dan Bennett in 1984, and the first person to juggle 8 balls in the bounce juggling numbers competition was Fritz Grobein 1993. 8 is now the minimum number of balls used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition. 8 balls was the minimum number of balls used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition until 2010. Since 2011 the WJF ball endurance competition has started with 9 balls. The 8 ball juggling world record is 1 minute and 13 seconds by Anthony Gatto (record from JISCON, video at 5:05). The world record for bounce juggling 8 balls is 4 minutes and 12 seconds by Alan Sulc (record from the Bounce Page, video). 9 balls thumb|left|400px|9 ball 7 up [[Spins|360 to a collect by David Ferman]] The first person to juggle 9 balls in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Anthony Gatto in 1989, and the first person to bounce juggle 9 balls in competition was Fritz Grobe in 2001. 9 is the minimum number of balls used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition, and is the highest number of balls that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The world record for 9 balls is 54 seconds by Anthony Gatto (record from JISCON, video). The world record for bounce juggling 9 balls is 35 seconds by Mathias Ramfelt (record from the Bounce Page, video). Tricks that have been done with 9 balls include: *Triplex stacks (qualified) video *Cascade with head bounce (qualified) video *Halfshower (qualified) video *Reverse cascade (not qualified) video *(ax,8)* (flashed) video *7 up 360 (not qualified) video *7 up 180 to collect? (video doesn't show the last catch) *6 overhead throws (to collect) video *1 backcross (to collect) video 10 balls thumb|left|400px|10 ball [[World records|world record by David Ferman]] 10 is the highest number of balls that have been performed onstage. No one has successfully toss juggled 10 balls in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF, which require a qualifying run. The first person to successfully bounce juggle 10 in competition was Robert Mosher III in 2007. Robert also holds the world record for bounce juggling 10 balls, with 39 catches (record from the Bounce Page). The following jugglers have qualified 10 ball non-multiplex toss juggling on video: *Bruce Sarafian was the first person to qualify 10 balls on video, in 1994. He has done 23 catches on video (verified by JISCON), and he and Thomas Dietz both claim to have done 28 catches. (claim, claim) *Jason Garfield (video) *Daniel Eaker (22 catches, video) *Alex Barron (video) *David Ferman currently holds the 10 ball world record with 26 catches (record from JISCON, video). *Dan Wood (22 catches, video) Joey Cousins, Peter Blanchard, and Ben Beever are also reported to have qualified 10 balls. Patterns that have been done with 10 balls: *Asynch fountain (qualified) video *Synch fountain (qualified) video *Wimpy pattern (qualified) video *Lift bounce (qualified) video *Force bounce (flashed) video *Duplex stacks (qualified) video *Quadruplex splits (qualified) video *Halfshower (flashed) video 11 balls by Alex Barron]]Frank LeDent is the first person credited with juggling 11 balls, in a book written in 1947. Bruce Sarafian was the first person to flash 11 balls on video, in 1992. In 1994, he broke his own world record with 12 catches, and in 1997 Jason Garfield tied for the record, also getting 12 catches. In 2000 Jason beat Bruce's record with 14 catches, and in 2001 Bruce regained the record, getting 15 catches. This remained the world record for 11 balls until 2010, when Alex Barron also got 15 catches, and then 17 catches 3 days later. 3 days after that Peter Bone broke the record with 18 catches, and in 4 more days Alex did 19. 2 days later Alex Barron got 21 catches of 11 balls (video). Alex claimed to have done 23 catches 4 days after he did 21, but his camera got knocked over by the wind just before he did it, so there was no video evidence of the qualify until he was able to get 23 catches again in 2012 (video). Alex set the current 11 ball world record later in 2012 with 25 catches (record from Wikipedia, video). Besides the basic pattern, 3 tricks have also been done with 11 ball toss juggling: a flash ending with a 1 up 360 by Peter Bone (video), a flash of a halfshower by Simon à Campo (video), and 12 catches of (cx,a)* by Alex Barron (video). 11 catches of 11 balls has also been done in a lift bounce by Tim Nolan (video). 12 balls thumb|400px|left|12 ball [[World records|world record by Alex Barron]]Michael Rudenko claimed to "work with up to 12 balls" in 1993. Bruce Sarafian was the first person to flash 12 balls on video, in the wimpy pattern, in 1996. Ben Beever flashed 12 in a synch fountain in 2001, but JISCON listed it as a "disputed record" because the video does not meet their standards for validation (the first two throws are not shown). Sam Hartford reported to have flashed a 12 ball synch fountain in 2002, but didn't submit the record to JISCON or publish the video until 2010. Peter Bone flashed a 12 ball asynch fountain in 2006 (video), and Brian Koenig flashed a 12 ball synch fountain in 2007 (video). Alex Barron broke the world record in 2010 with 13 catches of a synch fountain (video). In 2011, Dan Wood flashed a 12 ball synch fountain in April (video), Alex Barron broke his own world record with 14 catches of a synch fountain in May (video), Dave Leahy also flashed 12 balls in a synch fountain in June (video), and then Alex Barron broke the world record again with 16 catches (the current world record for 12 balls) of a synch fountain in December (record from JISCON, video). Then in 2012, Alex Barron did 14 catches of a 12 ball halfshower (video). 12 balls have also been flashed in a force bounce by Alan Sulc in 2008 (video) and duplex stacks by Bruce Sarafian in 2009 (video). 13 balls thumb|400px|left|13 ball [[Flash|flash by Alex Barron]]Peter Bone claims to have flashed 13 balls after about 100 tries in 2005, but has no video evidence. Alex Barron became the first (and so far the only) person ever to flash 13 balls on video in 2011 (record from JISCON). See also *Beanbags *NORWIK juggling balls *Bounce juggling Category:Props